Safety-envelop.



PATENTED MAY 10, 1904.

H. B. SGHUTT. SAFETY ENVELOP. APPLIOATION FILED APR. a0, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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N0 MODEL.

INVENTO/i' WITNESSES Pam/w w Arm/Mm No. 759,398. PATENTED MAY 10, 1904.-

I H. B. SUHUTT. ,SAFETY ENVELOP. APPLICATION FILED APR. 30, 1903.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 WITNESSES: Q 7 V I/Vl/E/VTUR BY W A TTURNEYS UNITED STAT s Patented May 10, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

HINRIOH B. SOHUTT, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO PATIENGE P. SOHUTT, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK SAFETY-ENVELOP- SPEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Iatent No. 759,398, dated May 10, 1904.

Application filed April 30, 1903.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HINRICH B. SCHUTT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Envelops, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to safety-envelope, the object thereof being to provide an article of this character which is constructed and assembled in such a novel manner as to prevent surreptitious opening and reclosing of the sealed envelop by unauthorized persons without leaving a telltale condition as evidence of such tampering.

The finished device presents plane back and front surfaces, and ithasasmall tongue forming part of the face thereof and a single external flap interiorly coated with an adhesive substance, said flap adapted to fold over along the upper edge of the face of the envelop and adhere when moistened to said part and the said tongue, whereby when an attempt is made to open the flap either by steaming or inserting a blunt or rounded object, as is often done, the concealed tongue will be severed, and such severing of the tongue can be readily detected by glancing at the inside of the envelop after it has been opened by the rightful recipient.

The invention will be hereinafter fully described, and specifically set forth in the annexed claim.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figurel is an inside plan view of the envelop in blank; Fig. 2, a similar view showing the same partly folded; Fig. 3, a face view of the completed envelop unsealed; Fig. 4, a face view of the envelop sealed stamped, and addressed and having cancellation and other markings thereon; and Fig. 5 is a face viewillustratingamodification having a stamp printed or embossed on the flap.

In the practice of my invention I provide, primarily, a sheet paper blank, as shown by Serial No. 154,961. (No model.)

Fig. 1 of the drawings, embodying the back 1, front 2, end flaps 3, and top or sealing flap 4. An integral tongue 5 is also cut in the front of the envelop, near the right-handupper corner thereof, having its connected end part near the upper edge of the envelop.

A recess 6 is formed in the upper edge of the front wall of the envelop, at one side thereof. This recess is for convenience in inserting and removing contents.

The sealing-flap 4 embodies a narrow contracted part a and a widened part b, which latter part folds over the upper right-hand corner part of the face of the envelop and over the tongue 5, and the inside surface of the flap is provided with a coating 0 of adhesive substance. The end flaps 3 are also respectively provided with an edge coating d of adhesive substance.

In assembling the device the end flaps 3 are folded over on the inner side of the front of the envelop. The adhesive substance is then moistened, and the back 1 is folded over and secured to said flaps, whereupon the envelop is in finished condition for use. The modified structure illustrated by Fig. 5 of the drawings embodies the same features as the device illustrated by the other figures, excepting that the flap 7 is provided with an extension 8, affording a space upon which to emboss or print a postage-stamp, as 9.

The contracted part a of the flap 4 is parallel with the longitudinal edge part of the envelop front wall adjacent to the recess 6, whereby a sufliciently wide surface area of the flap is presented to effect secure sealing of the envelop, while at the same time considerable space is left on the upper left-hand corner of the face of the envelop to admit of containing a printed announcement, as d, Fig. 4 of the drawings. The widened part b folds over the right-hand corner part of the face of the envelop and adheres thereto and to the tongue 5 when the envelop is sealed. Thus when a postage-stamp, as e, is placed in the prescribed position it acts as a supplementary seal for the envelop and is liable to -be torn or removed in a surreptitious attempt to open the flap, and should the stamp be removed after the cancellation markings, as f, are placed on the envelop it will be found diflicult to replace said stamp so that said marks will properly register. It will also be diflicult to properly register the time-stamp markings, as 9, located partly on the flap and partly on the envelop-face, if the flap is opened and reclosed. Thus evidences of tampering will be visible on the exterior of the envelop; but surreptitious opening of the flap will invariably sever the tongue 5, which cannot be put back in place, because it forms an integral part of the front wall. Thus a glance at the inside of the envelop after it has been cut or torn open by the rightful recipient will at once reveal the evidences of tampering.

Owing to the fact that the end flaps of the envelop are sealed on the inside they cannot be tampered with. Therefore the only pregnable part of the device is the front flap. Thus 1 provide a very effective safety-envelop adapted for all the purposes of an ordinary envelop and which is susceptible of being manufactured in any adaptable size and pro- 5 portion.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

An envelop comprising back and front 1 and 2, the front part 2, having tongue 5, recess 6, and flaps '3 and 3, having a coating of adhesive substance and the said back part 1, having flap 4, comprising a narrow part a, and a wider part b, and having. a coating of adhesive substance, and all these parts integral with each other, the said flap 4:, adapted to be folded and sealed on the face of the envelop, whereby the sealing-flap of the envelop occupies a position over the prescribed surface of the face of the envelop which carries the stamps and cancellation markings and the back of the envelop presents a plane surface, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention 1 have signed my name, in presence of two witnesses, this 15th day of April, 1903.

HINRICH B. SOHUTT.

Witnesses:

B. PATTERSON, D. W. HAGNER. 

